The Boggart in the Wardrobe
by DreamingDragon37
Summary: Chapter 7 of Prisoner of Azkaban, told from the boggarts point of view.


**The Boggart In the Wardrobe**

I waited impatiently, ricocheting off the walls, floor, and ceiling, eager to get out of the wardrobe and see who would be my victim today. I wondered absently what the victim's greatest fear would be. Ghosts? Rabid dogs? Perhaps a Blast-Ended Skrewt? (Personally, I hoped it would involve several tentacles, fangs, and either a lot of slime or hair. Or both.)

I could hear people talking excitedly through the thick doors of the wardrobe, but I couldn't make sense of it, and then a deeper voice, a man's voice talking while the other voices quieted. I shook the wardrobe, making it wobble, trying to scare the people outside a little. It seemed to work. I heard a couple of people jump back in alarm, and one yelled in surprise. I snickered.

More talking. I rattled the door knob for fun.

Even _more_ talking, then the sound of someone walking forward. I shook the wardrobe again. The man talking, a brief silence, then – _ouch! _– laughter. Talking again. _Wow, these people talk a _lot, I thought. _And laugh a lot,_ I thought, cringing as more laughter rang from outside the wardrobe. Talking, and then a moments silence. Then the man was talking again. And then, faintly because of the thick doors, I heard the man say loudly, "one-two-three-_now_!"

Sparks shot through the keyhole and the door burst open._ This is going to be so much fun, _I thought blinking in the light._ Just as long as it's not – _

I groaned inwardly as I took in the scene before me.

A group of kids, all staring at a very nervous looking boy who stood before me with his wand raised, with someone who must have been the teacher behind them.

Another Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Great.

Then I focused on the nervous looking boy and probed his mind, looking for his greatest fear. I found it and instantly turned into a greasy-haired, hook-nosed, sallow skinned black haired man. I shuddered inwardly. I hated those greasy haired types. I stepped forward, instinctively letting the characteristics of the man I was impersonating take over and do the work, my hand drifting towards my pocket. I would enjoy breaking this boy and his friends. It had happened so many times before. I was invincible, after all. I had watched so many DADA classes panic as I took them down, one by one. The boy was backing away, mouthing wordlessly in his panic, his wand still pointing at me.

"R-_r-riddikulus!" _squeaked the boy.

I winced. This boy wasn't very good, but it hurt nevertheless. A sharp crack! And I stumbled, tripping over a long lace-trimmed dress that I was now wearing, with a big crimson handbag swinging from my arm. I was also wearing a hat. The class roared with laughter. It hurt. Then I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I was wearing an _ugly_ ankle-length green velvet dress, a red handbag, and a tall hat with a _stuffed vulture_ on top. And they found this _funny?_ I was transfixed with horror.

The teacher shouted "Parvati! Forward!"

A black haired girl switched places with the boy, her face set. I shook myself out of my horrified trance and poked through her mind. I found her fear quickly and -crack!- I became a bloodstained mummy. I turned my face towards her, stiff arms rising, shuffling towards her –

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.

A bandage unraveled, entangling my feet. I fell face forward and my head rolled off. My view of the room spun around and around as the teacher roared "Seamus!"

Seamus darted past Parvati, his wand at the ready. His fear was obvious, I didn't even need to look into his mind to find it. Another crack! And I was instantly a woman with a skeletal green-tinged face and floor length black hair.

Next came the fun part. I opened my mouth and an unearthly shriek sounded throughout the room. Seamus was cringing. _He sure doesn't like banshees_ I thought to myself. But as I'd been thinking the boy had pulled himself back together and he cried "Riddikulus!"

My throat made a rasping noise and I clutched at it. My voice was gone!

All of a sudden I was too confused, I couldn't think straight, there were too many potential victims.

Crack! I was a rat, chasing my tail. _Idiot,_ I thought, and then crack! I was a rattlesnake, slithering and writhing on the floor, before – crack! – becoming a single, bloody eyeball. Through my bewildered haze I heard the teacher shout "It's confused! We're getting there! Dean!"

Another boy ran forward and I struggled to concentrate on him. Crack! I turned into a severed hand which flipped over and crept forward like a crab. I was just begging to concentrate easier when the boy yelled "Riddikulus!"

There was a loud snap! And I was trapped in a mouse trap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!" said the teacher and a tall red-haired boy leapt forward. I desperately grabbed for his fear.

Crack!

I was a six-foot tall spider, with eight legs, eight eyes, pincers, the whole thing. Only thing is, it was hard to enjoy being a giant spider when I was so confused. But I advanced anyway, clicking my pincers.

For a second I thought the kid had frozen. I hoped he had frozen. Because they were going to finish me off. I could imagine what it'll say in the family history book: The Last Stand Of The Great –

"Riddikulus!" shouted the red-haired kid and then suddenly my legs were gone and I was rolling around helplessly. A girl squealed and ran as I rolled towards her and I came to a rest at a black haired boys feet. I searched his mind for his fear. It wasn't that hard, he was already apprehensive. He had raised his wand, ready, but –

"Here!" shouted the teacher, running in front of the black haired boy. Odd.

This guy was so easy. His fear was there all the time, lurking. I could immediately see that he lost sleep over his fear. But the _moon? Really?_ A sharp crack! And I was a silver orb hanging in the air. "Riddikulus!" said the teacher, almost lazily, but I could hear the fear lurking in his voice. Crack! I was a cockroach on the floor as the teacher said "Forward, Neville, and finish him off!"

Him?_ Him? _I bristled, so angry that even though I could barely think straight, I managed to face the first boy again as he charged forward, determined. Crack! I turned into the hook-nosed man again. I was so angry that I even managed a scowl through the pain. "Riddikulus!" shouted the boy and I was in the ridiculous dress and hat again. Then the boy went "Ha!"

Right before I exploded I screaming angrily "I'm a girl, idiots!" Then with a loud Bang! I exploded.

All that I left behind was a shocked silence and a lot of smoke.


End file.
